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Phoenix, Arizona: Kidnapping Capital of the USA

Phoenix, Arizona has recently received the dubious distinction of being named the kidnapping capital of the United States. Second only to Mexico City in the world in terms of rates of violent kidnappings, local officials have cautioned that Phoenix is caught in a dangerous and even deadly crime wave. Many blame the rise in violent crime on Mexico's drug cartels.

With over 370 cases of kidnapping last year alone, the Phoenix authorities have been overwhelmed and are frustrated, "We're in the eye of the storm," Phoenix Police Chief Andy Anderson
told ABC News, "If it doesn't stop
here, if we're not able to fix it here and get it turned around, it
will go across the nation," he warned.

Jerry Brown, California's Attorney General, has said that because the U.S. government focuses so intently on Islamic extremist groups, that other types of terrorists like the drug cartels taking over Phoenix, are ignored. Kidnappings and other crimes connected to the Mexican drug cartels have been spreading across other border states as well, from Texas to California.

Many of the victims of these crimes are illegal aliens or involved in the drug trade somehow, but innocent victims have been caught up in the violence as well. While out with his unit and trying to find a victim in peril, Sergeant Phil Roberts said, "Our victim's probably being brutalized, he's probably being beaten up and tortured and God knows what else is taking place, and we don't know whether he's a legal or illegal. We look at it as if he's a human being. He's being tortured out there, and we've got
to do everything we can to try and rescue that individual."